NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — In the seventh of eight debates in six days, the candidates for the Democratic nomination for the state Senate seat continued to show their differences. United Cerebral Palsy held a nearly 3-hour forum Friday night with Executive Director Salvatore Garozzo moderating. The primary election is on Thursday and the winner will take on Republican Christine Canning-Wilson in the general election in November. The three kicked off by telling a little bit about themselves. Adam Hinds grew up in Shelbourne Falls and was the son of a public school teacher and a part-time librarian. As a child, Hinds said his father tried to get an upholstery tool company

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Lauren R. Stevens has been traipsing through the Berkshire mountains for more than 40 years.

And he wants others to find the same joy has in exploring the trails that weave throughout the county.

"I want people to gain an appreciation of the beautiful place we live in," the retired Williams College professor said. "There are benefits to just walking — physical and psychological. It has a way refueling."

Stevens recently published "50 Hikes In The Berkshire Hills," an updated guide to some favorite hikes, walks and climbs throughout the county. The guide, published by W.W. Norton's Countryman Press, came out in

Ahead of the Labor Day weekend, investors had little to do but bet on how strong or weak the unemployment number would be. It turned out to be weaker than expected and the markets rallied.

Yes, we are once again in a "bad news is good news environment." Weaker economic data means the chances of the Federal Reserve Bank raising interest rates at the September meeting is diminished. That means lower rates for longer, which equals higher prices for stocks, bonds, and commodities. None of the above disappointed on Friday.

Investors should take the action in the markets (both up and down) with a grain of salt. The real market moves normally begin after the unofficial end of summer,

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — As the School Committee held its second meeting in the month of August, Williamstown Elementary School's principal reminded the committee members they're not the only ones devoting time to the school in the "off season."

"People think that summer comes and teachers go on vacation, and it's just not true," Brookner said. "I've seen everybody. Some days, I want to say, 'What are you doing here? Go home.'

"But the classrooms are already looking beautiful. People are really excited about new ideas. It's a yearlong commitment from our teachers."

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — At Hillside Cemetery, William College students set to work straightening out gravestones and scrubbing them clean.

On Main Street, they were painting the vintage-looking light poles shiny black and a crosswalk in bright colors. Still more were over at Christopher Columbus Drive clearing brush around the Hoosic River.

The green T-shirt clad students on Friday morning were participating in the Leading Mind program, one of a half-dozen "EphVentures" designed to introduce the class of 2020 to the bucolic Williamstown college and the Northern Berkshires.

It is an election year and as such veterans are a voting block that neither side can resist. Both candidates are promising to overhaul Veterans Affairs once elected. The questions are whether to hand it over to the private sector or just try and fix the government organization's short-comings.

We all remember the terrible scandal back in 2014 when a whistle-blower revealed shocking inefficiencies, coverups and the deaths of some veterans within the Veterans Affairs. The then Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki, along with a gaggle of bosses in various states, who were caught falsifying waiting time reports for vets, provided the obligatory resignation parade before the

Dorothy Presser of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees conducts a workshop at Wednesday's meeting. WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee on Wednesday declined a request from its chairman to allow her to step down from the position. Carolyn Greene asked her colleagues for a vote to replace her as chair with two months left before the panel's regular November reorganization, citing the personal toll of several months of in-fighting on the committee. "For the past several months, we have experienced a level of contention at meetings and over emails that I have not been able to resolve," Greene said, reading

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Berkshire Mall is set to be sold to a New York investment firm which specializes in distressed malls. Mehran Kohanseih, also known as Mike Kohan, said he will close on a sale of the mall Friday for $3.5 million. His goal is to be a "hands-on" owner and bring new tenants. "It has a lot of challenges we are trying to overcome," Kohan said of the Berkshire Mall on Thursday. His firm, Kohan Retail Investment Group of Great Neck, N.Y., owns more than a dozen malls. The firm will is purchasing The Berkshire Mall from Strategic Asset Services, which bought it in 2014 from Pyramid Companies. CBL & Associates

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- For the sixth consecutive year, the Taconic Golf Club, home to both the Ephs' men's and women's golf teams, has been ranked No. 2 nationally by Golfweek magazine. The Taconic Golf Club has been ranked behind top-ranked The Course at Yale University in each of the last six years. Taconic Golf Club was last ranked first among the nation's top college courses in 2010 when The course at Yale was ranked No. 2 The top four ranked courses by Golfweek in 2016 remain the same as in 2015: The Course at Yale, Taconic, University Ridge Golf Club in Veriona, Wis., and the Rawls Course at Texas Tech. The layout at Taconic is

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The morning after pre-primary reports were due to the state's Office of Campaign and Political Finance, the three vying for the Democratic nomination for the state senate sparred on WTBR's "Good Morning, Pittsfield." Leading off the debate, host John Krol tackled those reports posed pointed questions about the candidate's donors. Adam Hinds, on leave as executive director of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, nearly quadrupled the amount of fundraising of his closest competition by reeling in $75,000. The names on the donor list include city councilors, current and past presidents of the Chamber of Commerce, the head of

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A local contractor Wednesday purchased a White Oaks resident seized by the town through tax title foreclosure. Jerry Smith of Williamstown was the successful bidder in a two-person auction, bidding $15,500 for 87 White Oaks Road on Wednesday morning in the Selectmen's Meeting Room. Town Finance Director Janet Saddler conducted the auction, which she started at $40,000. Hearing no bids, she dropped the asking price in $5,000 increments. When her proposed opening bid reached $20,000, she informed the bidders she would not accept a price lower than $14,000, which elicited a bid at that level from Smith. His opponent raised the price to